Nick Lidstrom bobblehead night. No pressure for the Wings playing in front of the Best Defenseman Ever.
Projected vs. Philly. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/5bKsaPhCSu
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 21, 2023
First Period
It took 2 minutes for a player (Fabbri) to be “stung” by a puck and gingerly head to the bench. Reset the “minutes without an ouchie” clock. Don’t worry Fabbri Fans, he’s fine.
Mickeyism:
“Ding ding, if you will.”
I will, thank you Mick. pic.twitter.com/82pTEwOUL7
— Ryan Hana (@RyanHanaWWP) January 22, 2023
Only one real save was needed in the opening minutes that got a reaction out of the crowd, Husso took care of business, and his dad is watching him play live for the first time so he better be on his best game.
A little over halfway through and not much going on. Shots are 8-6 but not much of that was really a dangerous scoring chance. Larkin interfered with (no call of course) but gets the puck back and clank goalpost.
Now we get an interference call as Ras gets blasted after the puck bounces off his skate. Ristolainen in the Bad Boy Box and with 8 minutes to go it’s time for a RRRRED WIIIINGS POWERPLAY! And it was not good! No shots fired.
But the poor powerplay somehow sparked the Wings anyway, they look like they’re still on one.
Walman with some slick moves. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/mmRHYdbhZ8
— Ryan Hana (@RyanHanaWWP) January 22, 2023
Hronek did some great work forcing the Flyers offside when they were coming in on a 4 on not enough rush. 1 minute left and Red Wings almost did their patented give up a goal right before intermission move. Thank you Husso.
Perron and Konecny take matching unsportsman-like penalties and go right to the locker room to think about what they’ve done. Konecny gave a little bit of a crosscheck after the play as Perron was drifting by and Perron took exception. 4v4 to end the first and start the second.
A Wings player got knocked down and kind of sat on and Fabbri got hooked/slashed by DeAngelo. No calls anywhere.
We end tied 0-0 and onward we go.
Second Period
Perron in the Crimes Cabana and Konecny in the Jerk Jail to start the period to finish their penalties from the first. Both penalties killed.
After a very quick whistle following Hart taking a shot to the helmet that rattled it out of place, which is a good thing for the ref to do, it’s Storytime with Mick about goalies not wearing helmets back in the day.
Erne shoves Konecny in the chest and he falls to the ice after the whistle, just because Erne is gonna be Erne. No penalty for it.
Halfway and shots are 17-13 Wings as they’ve gotten close to scoring a few times now. A few minutes later and shots are 17-15. Red Wings lulling Hart into a false sense of security.
We’ve got roughing penalties. Ras and Perron in the Timeout Terrarium and Sanheim in the Jerk Jail, all for roughing. Red Wings on the penalty kill. A lot of interesting choices being made by the refs tonight. Husso saving the day. At this point, there’s a little scrap after every whistle. A lot of “extracurricular stuff” as Mick says. Penalties killed with 4:30 left to go.
Shots 21-17 Flyers with a minute left. Shooting the puck? Save that for the third period. Ras gets held by DeAngelo. No call. Perron gets high-sticked, we have a call! Red Wings start their powerplay with 11 seconds left. Sanheim back in the Loser Locker.
The period ends with a scrap. Konecny has been in the middle of something every time he’s stepped on the ice.
We end with Fabbri and DeAngelo “exchanging addresses for Christmas cards” between the benches.
Time for the Third Period Red Wings, the good ones, to get the job done.
Third Period
Wings start with 1:50 of powerplay time. Powerplay not good! Provorov blocks a Walman shot with the outside of his ankle and needs help off the ice. Mick talks about the lack of padding, as he always does.
5 minutes in and still 0-0 and everyone is still feeling scrappy. A few minutes later and we have a goal. A bad one. Not much Husso could do when Laughton was left wide open in front of him. 1-0 Flyers.
Flyers have about 25 blocked shots so far, so it’s not for lack of trying on the Wings part. However, Kubalik turns the puck over behind the net which turns into a 2-0 lead for the Flyers. Husso didn’t have much of a chance. Pain. 6:30 to go.
Husso has himself a seat on the bench. Empty net with 3:52 left.
1:30 no ENG yet but also no Wings goal. Flyers blocking shots and Wings turning the puck over has been the story of the night.
Larkin clank another goalpost.
LUCAS RAYMOND SCOOOOOOOOOOOORES! with 41.6 seconds left. 2-1 Flyers.
Lucas Raymond cuts the #Flyers lead in half, giving his team a chance late in the third!#LGRW | @ThinkFordFirst pic.twitter.com/kndkawv9R8
— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) January 22, 2023
Hart makes one last huge stop against Raymond to save the game for the Flyers and that’ll do it.
FINAL: 2-1 Flyers.
